Coconut Oil verses Olive Oil for Cooking

by Jim
(United States)

I am a little confused. In your recent E-mail you suggested changing from vegetable oil to coconut oil. Do you mean that all vegetable based oil produces trans fats when heated even when the Nutritional Information says they have no trans fats?

I found this article that seems to state the at least olive oil may also be used without creating trans fats. Do you agree?

Does Heating Olive Oil Make It a Trans-Fatty Oil?

Heating Olive Oil for Cooking

What about other vegetable oils like Cannolla, Peanut, etc. that say they have 0 trans fats?

Here is another link that says that Coconut Oil contains more fat than animal fat.

Coconut Oil

It states that the only problem with Olive Oil is that it smokes at a low temperature and should not be used for frying.

Best regards,

Jim

REPLY

Hi Jim,

You've asked a very good question - with some different answers from different authorities.

The author of
The Anti-Inflammation Diet and Recipe Book: Protect Yourself and Your Family from Heart Disease, Arthritis, Diabetes, Allergies - and More states that "any oils that are cooked at very high temperatures convert to trans fats." She bakes only with coconut oil and organic butter.

She also says, " make sure to avoid heating olive oil too high when cooking with it. If you are stir-frying or otherwise cooking at an elevated temperature, use coconut oil instead."

The author of The Inflammation Syndrome: The Complete Nutritional Program to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, Arthritis, Diabetes, Allergies, and Asthma states that cooking with olive oil or coconut oil is fine.

If anyone else has any input on this topic please share it with us.

Kind Regards,

Leslie Degner, RN, BSN

Coconut Oil Benefits

by Joseph
(United States)

I read your articles regularly as I am legally blind from Macular Degeneration at age 53.

Several years back, My wife worked in the Movie Theater business and the popcorn was cooked in coconut oil. The flavor was great and the oil was inexpensive.

A very large controversy opened about the trans fat in coconut oil across the country. As a result, The theater industry dropped coconut oil from its inventory.

The flavor of the popcorn dropped and costs went up. If this was all due to the trans fat in the coconut oil, why now, are you saying that coconut oil is healthier than other oils?

Thanks for all you do!

REPLY

Hi Joseph,

Yes, I indeed remember when we were told to stay away from all saturated fats and especially coconut oil. So, how can they now say that it is actually good for you and in some books it even says that one of the coconut oil benefits helps with cholesterol?

The way I understand it is that even though it is a saturated fat - it is not a trans fat. Most saturated fats that come from meat and dairy products are long chain fatty acids, whereas coconut oil is a medium chain fatty acid.

Because it is a medium chain fatty acid, coconut oil metabolizes quickly and efficiently. It is not stored as fat in the body because it converts to energy quickly.

It took me a while to make this change. But I now have found this same information repeated in several books - especially in the The Anti-Inflammation Diet and Recipe Book: Protect Yourself and Your Family from Heart Disease, Arthritis, Diabetes, Allergies - and More.

Hope this helps.

Kind Regards,

Leslie Degner, RN, BSN